Jailed driver who killed 2 in Mpls. alley hasn't had valid license for 11-plus years

The jailed motorist who crashed in a Minneapolis alley and killed two people hasn't had a valid driver's license for more than 11 years, state officials said.

Michele Reimann, 47, of Blaine, stands charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the crash Friday evening in an alley in north Minneapolis.

Reimann was treated at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale for her injuries and then jailed Monday, where she remains in lieu of $250,000 bail ahead of a Thursday afternoon court appearance.

Police have said that speeding and impairment by drugs or alcohol are suspected factors in the crash.

On Wednesday, the second victim was identified as Felicia D. Cook, 52, who was in the van with Reimann. Cook, of Minneapolis, died in the alley north of Lowry Avenue and west of Penn Avenue just before 8 p.m., the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office said.

The crash also killed Terrence L. Odom, 40, of Minneapolis, who was in the driver's seat of a parked car that was struck.

Reimann's license has been canceled since May 2007, a state Department of Public Safety spokesman said Thursday. Since that cancellation, she's been convicted twice previously for driving without a license.

Reimann also has at least four drunken driving convictions, plus two for not having car insurance and one for fleeing police in a motor vehicle.

Her criminal history when not driving includes three convictions for theft, two for property damage, and one each for illicit drug possession, check fraud and shoplifting.

According to the latest charges against her:

Reimann was using alcohol and crack cocaine with two others in a van that stopped at a convenience store near 2600 W. Broadway Av.

When the driver went in the store, Reimann drove off with the other friend. As Reimann left the parking lot, she struck another vehicle, whose driver then followed her.

Before the officer could get close to Reimann, police reports say, she sideswiped a vehicle near Lowry, hit a utility pole in the alley, veered into Odom's parked car and struck a second pole.

Cook was pinned beneath the van and pronounced dead at the scene. Odom was found dead about 15 yards from his parked car.

Prosecutors have said they intend to seek a longer sentence because of Reimann's driving and drug use records, along with the seriousness of the offenses.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482